I brewed a Rye IPA over the weekend. My 1st time brewing with rye malt. The grains were smaller and more flexible than barley (maybe due to lack of husk?) and many did not crack open.
Is it necessary to mill rye? If so, what are some methods used to get all or the majority of the grain to crack. I thought about zapping it in my food processor or adjusting the mill gap smaller and running only the rye through it.
Gregg
New Lenox, IL
If they were not cracking open you probably just need to tighten the mill gap until you acieve the proper crush. What is your current mill gap setting?
The gap is set at .045" and produces an excellent crush on barley malt.
Adjust the mill gap setting to .030" for rye malt. If the grains are really small then adjust accordingly.
I leave the Barley Crusher gap @ ~.035 for barley, wheat & rye. I always mill wheat & rye first and mill it twice before milling the barley. Seems to work okay.
I have the gap on my JSP adjustable set about as small as it will go. I can just mix barley, rye, wheat, whatever and mill them all together.
My mill is set at .035 and I just run the Rye through by itself and then add the milled Rye to the rest of the grist and mill it. That way, the Rye gets milled twice. I’ve got my mill gap nice a dialed in and don’t really want to mess with changing/resetting it.
I brewed a rye pale with 2lbs of rye last weekend. I did the same thing and ran the rye through twice, seemed to crush it just fine. My gap is a barley crusher at factory setting which is .039 or something like that.
Yeah tighten the gap. I always mill rye first, by itself, then add it back to my barely when it goes through the crusher.
I have a BC @ .039 and am about to use rye for the first time. I’m glad I found this thread.
I have a Valley Mill and have it set so tight sometimes it jams…Worked just fine putting 2lbs of rye malt through last week. Yes I crush till I’m scared! 